Say It Again
by IttyBittyTidbits
Summary: Time was when the Byakko no miko and her seishi were young. It was also the time when Tatara wondered whether he could actually get about proposing to be Suzuno’s lover.


Say It Again

Discalimer: song, characters are not mine. Only this demented little drabble plot is.

***

The thing about love

**Is I never saw it coming**

**It kinda crept up and took me by surprise**

**And now there's a voice inside my heart that's got me wondering**

**Is it true, I wanna hear it one more time**

Suzuno lay tossing in bed. She was so excited about leaving Sairo for Konan that she couldn't fall asleep. Karasuki had been telling everyone in their little group that they ought to get an early start, which meant getting up at dawn. The desert sun was so unbearable it would practically be suicide to try to navigate around the sandy ridges in bright daylight. But try though she might, she just could not take her last encounter with Tatara from her mind.

"Suzuno, it's time to get up," a sleepy voice announced at her door along with a couple of weak knocks.

Glad for the activity, she instantly slid off the bed to get dressed, flinging the door open after an instant. When she suddenly appeared, Tokaki was still yawning, leaning against the doorframe with the yawn frozen on his face.

"Ohayo, Tokaki!"

He grinned and patted the top of her head. "A happy morning for you isn't it?"

"Are the others up yet?" She followed him to the room he shared with Karasuki, Amefuri and Tatara.

"Funny that you ask. The commander," cynically pointing at a snoring Kararuki, "finds it rather difficult to get up at the crack of daylight. Too bad he was so emphatic about starting off early last night." The blue-haired seishi closed the door and faced his two sleeping companions. "KARASUKI! AMEFURI! GET UP!" At which rude morning call, the two slumbering seishi jolted awake. Amefuri even fell out of bed.

"Oh, hey, Suzuno. Good morning," Amefuri blearily got up, rubbing the sore spot on his head. "Tokaki really, you have to learn to be more refined, especially in matters concerning asking people to wake up."

"I didn't ask you. It was an order."

The older seishi threw on a coat and made for the door with bundles of rolled-up blankets. "Stop it you two. You're acting like children."

"Yeah? Look who was drooling in his sleep."

Karasuki eyed Amefuri. "I don't drool in my sleep. And your pillow's got a wet spot."

Tokaki let out a loud guffaw. "Yeah! Only babies drool. Karasuki's so old he snores!"

"That's not the point."

Suzuno stifled a giggle and took some of the bundles from her seishi. "These are going on the horse, right?"

**Move in a little closer**

**And take it to a whisper**

**Just a little louder**

The morning air was crisp and still fog-laden when Suzuno stepped out. Piling her things onto a nearby bench, she began saddling one of their horses, something she had eventually learned to do after one of the stable boys did it so badly she was obliged to share a horse with Tatara.

Not that she minded.

Suzuno rubbed her arms, trying to distribute the heat from her face to the rest of her body. It had never ceased to amaze her how disparate the desert climate was during the course of the day. Maybe that was why Sairou was barren except for an occasional oasis.

"Cold?"

She jumped about a foot in the air, nearly getting a finger stuck in the trappings. "You shouldn't go around surprising people like that, you know."

Tatara nodded mildly. "If you don't mind, there's something I'd like to show you."

"Can it wait until after this? I promised Karasuki..." she trailed off helplessly.

He took her hand, and Suzuno wished he couldn't feel the fluttering pulse there. "Don't worry, he won't mind."

"But where are we going?"

"Not far."

**Say it again for me**

**Cause I love the way it feels when you are telling me that I'm**

**The only one who blows your mind**

**Say it again for me**

**It's like the whole world stops to listen**

**When you tell me you're**

**In love**

**Say it again**

They walked around the inn's perimeter and a little distance away from its backyard. Suzuno's breath came out in little white frosts for the cold. She looked at her companion, who seemed unfazed by the biting air. Cold wind gently swept around their legs.

"Will you close your eyes?"

"Why?"

"Just-" Tatara tried to keep her from peeking around him, but Suzuno had already seen. He shrugged sheepishly. "Surprise?"

"You planted a garden?" She asked, kneeling to cup a flower in her hand.

"Not in that sense," he replied. "I remember how you said you wished that there were flowers around Sairo, and thought that maybe you'd like this, even if only for this morning."

The thing about you is you know just how to get me

**You talk about us like there's no end in sight**

**The thing about me is that I really want to let you**

**Open that door and walk into my life**

She watched him closely and began to stand. "Why are you so good to me?"

He baffled her, really. When they first met he acted as if she was the scourge that would destroy his peaceful life, yet he always jumped right in to save her whenever there was trouble. And for the past few days he had been acting stranger than usual.

"Ah!" Suzuno clapped her hands together. "Is this the repayment you were talking about when your sash caught fire and I dumped water on you last night?"

"Uh..ahm..."

"You're welcome!"

"Not really."

She froze. "'Not really'?"

"Not...not really the repayment, I mean."

"Oh."

**Move in a little closer**

**And take it to a whisper**

**Just a little louder**

"It's a gift."

"For what? It's not my birthday." She smiled gently.

"One doesn't have to wait for one's birthday to receive a gift," he replied as smoothly as he could.

"So what's the occasion?"

Tatara fell silent. He did not want the flowers to seem like a bribe to forgive him after what he was about to say. Finally he stammered, "Nothing. I only wanted to tell you," He made himself look her straight in the eyes and finished, "that I...like you."

**Say it again for me**

**Cuz I love the way it feels when you are telling me that I'm**

**The only one who blows your mind**

**Say it again for me**

**It's like the whole world stops to listen**

**When you tell me you're in love**

Suzuno's eyes widened in surprise and she felt pleased enough to even begin to smile. _He liked her._ That was a fresh change from when she liked them but they didn't like _her_. It felt good to at last be wanted by somebody.

She was still formulating a reply when they heard the iron latch of the back door slide open. A sleepy servant girl yawned, stretching as she made her way over to a nearby well, bucket in hand. She saw them and the three stared stupidly at one another before Tatara got down on his hands and knees, pretending to search for something he had dropped.

"Let me help you..."

A loud whinny interrupted her, and Tatara nodded towards the sound. "I have a feeling you've not finished packing up yet. I can manage by myself."

"But—"

"It's all right. Go."

**And it feels like it's the first time**

**That anybody's ever brought the sun without the rain**

**And never in my whole life**

**Have I heard words as beautiful as when you say my name**

Suzuno ran to the front of the inn, flushed and grinning to herself. "Tokaki!" she called, doubling over in breathlessness. "Can I help you?"

"Technically, this is your job. I just ended up doing it since you ran off..." the older man peered into her face, Byakko no miko feigning an innocent look. "I say, there's something going on isn't there?"

"What makes you think so?"

"You think I don't know?" He waggled a finger at her. "Suzuno...you're blushing. It's too early in the morning to blush. What have you been up to?"

"Nothing," she answered quickly, yanking the strap too hard that the horse kicked at the dust.

"Ooh, really?"

"Suzuno!"

She felt her ears begin to smoke. It was Tatara, coming towards her with something in his hand.

"You dropped your mirror out there in the back."

"Thank...thank you," she smiled gratefully, reaching out to take it from him.

Tatara smiled softly, pressing the shiny thing onto her outstretched hand. He nodded a "Good morning," to Tokaki and mumbled some vague excuse to get away. Suzuno peeked under the mirror and found there a tiny bloom, a flower she saw in the instant garden he had planted.

**Say it again for me **

**Cuz I like the way it feels when you are telling me that I'm**

**The only one who blows your mind**

**Say it again for me**

**It's like the whole world stops to listen**

**When you tell me you're in love**

**Say it again**

Behind the girl, Tokaki burst out in laughter. "Our little girl's becoming a lady!"

"Tokaki!" she hissed, but secretly glowed with pleasure. It didn't matter if no one would approve of her and Tatara's love. For the moment, knowing that he cared was enough...

**When you tell me you're in love...**

**Say it again.**

**...**

I've finally gotten around to finishing this fic! The idea sorta boiled around in my head for some time before being written down. I wanted this to come out cute, with both Tatara and Suzuno still young and not yet so serious about life. I just hope it didn't come out all cheesy! This fic's kinds sad, though, knowing that both lovers will have to wait until they die to be reunited again.

But anyway, thank you for reading. Tell me what you think. Review please! Thanks.

Love, Tidbits... :)

PS. The song is by Marie Digby.


End file.
